Still waiting for clarity

Author: | Published: 1 Jul 2009

Elizabeth Fournier
Staff writer

June's EU summit may have calmed the UK politicians worried
about the Eurozone's growing influence, but lawyers say that
the concessions are not enough. Add that to concerns over an
accelerated timetable and an unclear drafting process, and you
have yet another political storm with nothing for lawyers to
grab hold of.

"Lawyers like to see directives and documents first," said
Norbert Wiederholt, a banking partner at Allen & Overy in
Frankfurt. "We've got nothing tangible as always, just plans
that look like a dog with a loud bark but no bite."

At the summit, EU leaders agreed to endorse and implement
the regulatory proposals put forward by the Economic and
Financial Council (Ecofin) at its meeting the previous week.
And initially both in-house counsel and private practice
lawyers that IFLR spoke to were relieved that the Ecofin plan,
drafted on June 9, relied primarily on national
supervisors,...